Tromso 4D3N: Midnight Sun Kayaking (MSK) in the Fjords!! :D

B4 Marpig gets into the kayak and paddle away in the Fjord, herez the mind map!!

The city centre and where the trio stayed is located where the word "Tromso" is (bottom right, near the Tromso Bridge, which link Tromso to the mainland). Tromso airport where they TD is pretty obvious

After checking in, they were picked up by the adventure operatorz van to the starting point for the MSK. From the city centre, they traveled northwards, past the airport, ax the Sandnessund Bridge (linking Kvaløya with Tromso, a 1220m long concrete bridge with 36 spans), then along the coastal road to the small bridge at Hakoya (left of map above)

A wee bit on Tromso too; itz located 350km north of the Arctic Circle and is the largest urban area in northern Norway. It has a subarctic climate aka boreal climate, i.e., long, cold winters and short, cool/mild summers. However, due to the lack permafrost and lotsa precipitation during autumn and winter (snow), Tromso is unusual for a subarctic climate city. Also worth noting is tt itz not as cold as pple thought it is (though stil very cold!!) due to the Gulf Stream. Tromso also hses the northernmost uni, botanical garden and planetarium

AND!! Bcos Tromso is in the middle of the Aurora Borealis zone, itz 1 of the best places in the world to see her!! :D :D :D *rubbing trotters in glee*

Anyw, arriving at the starting pt, the grp of 8 kayakers (incl. the trio but xcl. 2 instructors), got dressed up in dry suits, etc.

The leetle bridge (right) and start/finish pt for the MSK

Whilst waiting for the rest to get ready, Goldie and Marpig went on a photo spree time. Above: Pic perfect postcard scenery of mountains, fjord, boats and hses!!

Different size kayaks for different sized kayakers :P They also gave a quick condensed version of 1 star kayak course + al the health and safety thingy. The boy/guy on the left is 帅!! :D_

With Goldie in her "drysuit" too, Marpig and the rest were ready to set sail in the silent and calm fjord!! BTW, itz actually 9ish pm then!! 真的吗?!

The Midnight Sun is a natural phenomenon and is observed north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. Itz when the sun stays above the horizon and is seen 24 hrs. However, bcos the sun is not a pt source of light, Midnight Sun can also be xperienced in other places slightly south of the Arctic Circle/north of the Antarctic Circle. The nearer to the poles one travels, the longer the Midnight Sun lasts during the summer. The opposite is the Polar Night, where the sun is below the horizon and forgets to wake up during the winter mths

And so the grp paddle in the abs 102% silent and calm waters around Hakoya in the route as shown above, totalling 13ish km, clockwise direction;

1) overlooking the Sandnessund Bridge from the eerily silent waters. As the clouds were reflected onto the surface of water, it added up to the mystical feel!!
2) stopped for a rest and supper of codfish pasta and hot drinks on the smaller islet (makan included in the package)
3) paddled over the wreck of the German battleship Tirpitz which was bombed and sunken by the RAF during WWII!! Totally eerie but xxxciting!! (the star and 10km marks tt spot!!). The entire thingy last from pickup at 630pm - 2am, back in hotel. Really worth doing!!

Kayaking on the horizon... 天+云+水+人!! A very dreamy kinda feeling, like merging with the nature!!

Admiring the Midnight Sun while resting and suppering on the islet... itz literally 12am then!! 没骗你哦!!

艺术照!! 《午夜太阳的静思》 :P

Tromso 4D3N: Generally Random Ths

One shouldnt be "settling" into routine/habits, as being too "settled" wil ylwols put out the burning flame in onez heart... hmmm... Marpig has been feeling restlessly settled... *pondering*

Anyw, bloggiez 进度 has been really wols. B4 Marpig starts writing bout the Midnight Sun in Tromso, herez smth for the record:

Nbrs (1 tall and thin, the other shorter and fat) directly adj to Marpig does weed, deals in weed and perhaps, has also been growing weed!! Moved in Jan 2015 and less than a yr and ths hasnt been rosy. Nbrs dont seem to work. Rarely go out to meet pple ard the neighbourhood. Played loud music, smoke weed. More and more of such pple in the UK. Too soft on drugs. Anyw, had already reported to police and council on wat Marpig heard and saw (on 1 occasion, even saw smone came and pick up a packet of "smth"!) Pri sch which is just bhind Marpig also reported about weed smell. Terrible, yes. In the Leetle Red Dot, these pple would have already been jailed, fined and caned! No... if growing and supplying, may even be hanged!! Alas... scums of the world!! Harsh? Wel, look at how drugs have destroyed the lives of millions, billions ard the world!! Umk, back to the Midnight Sun!!

Was a Sat morn and the trio (Marpigz sis, BIL and Marpig) board the plane from LHR -->Oslo-->Tromso

Cockpit of an Airbus A320!!

The return (budget) flight from LHR to Tromso (via Oslo) costs approx. 310 quid. Comes with complementary BF on board SAS. Not too shabby!!

A leetle bit bout Norway; it has got quite a rich history and the 1st inhabitants are dated ard the Upper Paleolithic aka Late Stone Age period (btw 50,000 - 10,000 yrs ago). It is mountainous but agriculture is 1 of the impt sectors. The ctry has rich biodiversity (include the biggies like sperm whale, basking shark and polar bears!!) The ctry is also rich (literally) as she has oil, gas, lumber, minerals, seafood, freshwater and hydropower

Although she declared neutrality during WWII, the Nazis occupied Norway for 5 yrs and of cos, Norway fought back and was with the Allies

Oslo Airport at Gardenmoen. Surprising or not, therez no direct flights from Leetle Red Dot to Scandinavia, only to Copenhagen. Transiting at Oslo...

...they arrived Tromso in the late aftern!!

They passed by sm newly built Norwegian hses whilst on the bus into the city centre

Just so happened tt when the Trio was there, the Tromso Midnight Sun Marathon was ON!! So cool to run a marathon through tt street and at midnight when sun is stil high above!! :D

They dont scrimp on public WCs umk!!Smooth motion!! :P

Sculptures abound!! (Note, the p***s lookalike thingy and man throwing a paper aeroplane were in Oslo)

土产!! As mentioned, Norway has abundant seafood and yes!! 鱼饼s and 鱼丸s!!

Lotsa salmon too!! Yummy!! Therez no whale as Scandinavia normally dont kill whales now, as the guide in Iceland (in later bloggie entries on Marpigz trip to Iceland!!) said, whale meat are for tourists who wanna taste the meat!!

And lotsa Norwegian local brew!! FYI, sandwich in Scandinavia are open-top, i.e., their sandwiches have the 料 on top of the bread and ttz how they eat them

Right, this is truly 土产; stockfish!! Stockfish is unsalted fish (most commonly cod but other whitefish can be used too) ttz dried by cold air on wooden rack (aka hjell). The process of making stockfish is akin to the making of good Cognac, Parma Ham, etc, no play play!! Immediately after capture, the fish is gutted, cleaned and split along the spine and hung on the hjells from Feb to May. The cool weather (slightly above 0 degC) during those mths in Norway protects the fish from insects and bacteria growth. After tt, the fish is dried indoors for another 3 mths

Worth noting tt the method of making stockfish allows it to retain all the nutrients

The best stockfish comes from Lofoten and coincident with cod harvest. In western Norway where temp and humidity are higher, dried salted whitefish (aka klippfisk) are more common

After sorting, most stockfish are xported to ctries like Iceland, Italy and Nigeria. In Iceland and Norway, stockfish are used as snacks and also for making lutefisk (another fish dish!!). In Italy, stockfish (aka stoccafisso) is a delicacy; one of which is the ancient and traditional Baccalà alla Vicentina, which is native to Vicenza. This is not to be confused with salted cod, which is known in std Italian as Baccalà. In West Africa, stockfish is used in soups, much like how Asian cook their soupbases using pork / beef / fish / chicken bones :D

Marpig on swing!! Ah~~ the swing, smth which draws Marpig to it, like bees to honey!!

Was at a science museum and searched for Aurora activity in Norway on a random date

Above are 2 kuksa from souvenior shop. Yup, 499 Norwegian Krona is about 43 quid!! Marpigz sis bought 1 for Marpig :D

Kuksa aka Guksi, kasa, is a traditional drinking cup ttz duodji crafted by the Sami pple. Duodji is traditional Sami handicraft and the ths made can be artistic as wel as being functional and useful. Kuksa is carved from birch. Apparently, Kuksa carved from birch burrs (not ordinary birch), last a long long time, since the grains are twisted and interlocked, making it very dense and resistant to cracking (due to the wide temp difference and stresses)

Sua Gu: "BK in Norway!!"

Sua Gu: "7-11 in Norway!!"

变; 是一面还是两面呢?

Itz the last Sundae of Oct and the clocks had turned back an hr... Marpig had "gained" an hr, but having lost an hr back in March... 算扯平了吧?

Ah~ Itz 1 of those many overcast daes, when the leaves are yellow and falling, with Marpig sipping tea and eating shortbreads and (finally) reflecting again

Itz been a hectic yr where projs (OST, PCW) had taken much of Marpigz time and brain power. So much so tt Marpig has no energy left to ponder and take stock of watz happening outside work. Then therez also the hol trips which are very much welcomed but also drained Marpig further. In addition, there seems to be sm change in life (coming up?) Am starting the discussion bout the possibility of working in HK with company, but 八字还没一撇, so letz not get too xxxcited, YET!! (thinking bout concerts and walks already!!)

Marpig normally does serious self reflection at least once a yr and this entry was smth Marpig wanted to do sm time ago, specially more so since PS commented tt Marpig has changed and tt she no longer understands Marpig. Gosh, wat a huge impact this had on Marpig, as though Marpig is a 千古罪人 *sobs*

And so, Marpig searched for "change" in her bloggie and wow, Marpig actually discusses the notion bout changes throughout the yrs!!

Everyth and every1 changes unfortunately, no matter how much we dislike the sudden unfamiliarity with ths/pple we were once familiar with (bcos we are selfish smtimes) Marpig dislikes changes too and was caught in tt sort of situation back in 2006!! Read this!! Hahaha, got so emotional with changes ard her during tt time tt she was driving in the night blankly (thought tt was so cool!! :P

Marpig is consciously worried bout changes in herself tt she tried to keep track of changes of herself as far back as 2006 and doing sanity check once in a blue moon!! In the early daes, Marpig was scared of losing herself as she embarked on living and working in the UK (therez definitely the pressure of familyz xpectations)

However, as the yrs gone by and with Marpig understanding the notion of impermanence (1 of the 三相 in Buddhism) and reality of life, Marpig came to accept the fact tt she cannot xpect ths/pple to not change, hence, shez always trying to 既来之, 则安之. This bloggie entry actually shed sm light as to why Marpig decided to make the best out of everyth!! Plus, wat have we got to lose afteral?

Pondering deeper, perhaps changes are 2-sided rather than 1-sided. I.e., when we see a change in sm1 we knew, itz also bcos the changed person no longer fits into the carved image we reserved for tt person, bcos leetle did we know, we may have also changed (i.e., PS and other frens have also changed inevitably...)

Anyw and omg!! Marpig actually hypothesized in 2006 why personalities may & can change; bcos pple have the capacity to gain/lose personalities from the xperiences they went through. Definitely happened to Marpig!! Wat with al these yrs and experiences in the UK, 人怎么可能不变? Luckily Marpig didnt 放火杀人!! Hahaha

Aside from age and material changes with Marpig, she did realise tt shez bcome more like Marpigz sis, i.e., no nonsense tone in certain situations, more practical (cos of commitment!!), always thinks in prob solving mode (bcos of work and in an al-male working environment, thanks!!)

Heng as Marpig read her old bloggie entries, she hasnt lose all her marbles and stil do sm of the ths which Marpigz frens wil say, "yeah, ttz the sort of ths she does":

Bluntness and 执着 "To be right, not to win" (which smtimes offends!!)
Giving nicknames (Just gave Marpigz car the name, Hyunnie)
Stil rubbish at dolling and dressing up as b4
Talking to plants and believing they can "understand" you (e.g., 小兰, Marpigz purple orchid)
Stil cycle on Foldie, stil collect pins, stil loves manga, stil talk to strangers!!
Stil rants on n on n on n on... (救命啊!! 放过我吧!! :P)

Bruges in Summer 2012: 真的是最后了!!

Gosh, itz almost winter 2014 and Marpig am stil lingering in Bruges!! Really, smtimes, wat consumes us is wat we spent most of our time on, not necc wat we are passionate bout...

Anyw!! Marpig and frens went to see the Belfry of Bruges on the last dae (b4 driving back to the UK). But 1st, itz brunch in the 1ha Markt

The cafe they went for fd was the 1st on the left of the panorama above. Having grabbed an alfresco seat and whilst waiting for fd to be served, a tourist horse carriage pulled closed and omg!!

Horsie is pissing BIG time!! Was so loud and lots tt EVERYONE in the Markt turned and looked at him!! (Ladies sitting on the carriage looked a wee bit embarrassed :P)

Brunch!! Allz gd xcept for the chicken breast. Too leetle effort, i.e., the chicken breast was boiled and canned soup poured over it as the sauce, with sm boiled potatoes :S

Not sure any1 of u has tried taking a vertical panorama but Marpig has been trying it and specially during her Scotty trip. Above is an xample of a vertical panorama of the Belfry; sky, obj & shadows!!

The Belfry of Bruges, together with 31 other belfries in Belgium, formed the 1999 inscribed UNESCO Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia. And as of 2005, these are grouped together with the Belfry of Gembloux and 23 belfries in northern France to become the Belfries of Belgium and France

Al these belfries were built btw 11th and 17th century, of various styles; Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque. Note tt the Italians, Germans and English much prefer to build town halls. And wow, the buildings actually symbolises diff ths last time; keeps symbolised the powers of feudal lords, bell towers (smtimes referred to as belfries too, but part of the Church) symbolised powers of the Church while belfries symbolised the wealth and influence of the town and itz pple

Belfries started as mobile wooden towers used in siege warfare but in time, became attached to buildings, etc to regulate pplez lives by announcing time, work hrs, fire alarms, al sorts of major town events (no watches in Medieval times!!)

The Belfry of Bruges is 83m tall, although it used to be much taller, but the top/spire was damaged 3 times; twice by fire, once by lightning strike. Thereafter, the spire was never rebuilt (must be kinda taboo tt spire!!) As with most towers of the olden times, it was built in stages and there is a slight 1m lean to the east

Part of the wooden structure of the Belfry

Itz not FOC to go up (any) Belfry, and therez always a Q but itz nth as compared to the Campanile (Italian for bell tower) of San Marco in Venice!!

The Belfry consists of 366 steps. Stone steps at the bottom and as 1 climbs up, the steps become timber and the tower becomes narrower. Stability and lower CG 吧

In the 16th century, the Belfry received a carillion consisting of 35 cast iron bells, which a carilloneur plays via a keyboard and great drum (see below, reminds Marpig of a BEEG musical box!! :P), to perform a melody or chord

A record has been kept since 1604 of each resident carilloneur who were employed to play this carillion. Bells had been added and currently, therez a total of 47 cast iron bells, weighing from 1kg to 5000kg, total weight of al bells = approx. 27.5 tons!!

Reaching the top of the Belfry, one sees the spire of the Church of Our Lady (refer to Bruges Part 3)

Spot St. Salvator's Cathedral too!! (refer to Bruges Part 3)

Wind turbines!! See the "layers of time"? (Starting in the foregrd; old, new, future!!)

Top down to Markt!! (btw Marpig refrains from using the phrase "ground zero")

Finally, thought this is worth a mention (cos itz on Marpig list of to-gos!! Stil so luvres faerie tales!!) Käthe Wohlfahrt is a German company tt sells traditional German Xmas decorations and was set up in 1964. The current main shop is in the Medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, which also has a Xmas museum and Xmas xhibition!!

Above is the branch in Bruges, Belgium. Therez more in Germany (Nuremburg, Bamberg, Oberammergau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Heidelberg and Rüdesheim am Rhein). Therez also 1 in Riquewihr, France and 1 in Stillwater, Minnesota

Right O, so ended Bruges!! Next up!! Midnight Sun!!!!!!

Bruges in Summer 2012: Of Potatoes and Chocolates

For any1 whoz been to Belgium, on top of the beers, one would also note these: moules, waffles, frites and chocs

In many previous bloggie entries of Bruges (& of Amsterjam, Antwerpen), Marpig had posted pics of moules and the "sweet grilles" (codename for waffles, cos they look like ventilation grilles!! 职业病啊!! :P). So herez sm frites and chocs to whet yr appetite!!

The entrance to the Frietsmuseum, which was opened in 2008 by a guy who also own 2 other museums (in vvv close proximity) The building is 1 of the oldest buildings in the UNESCO list of historic Bruges and was a Gothic-styled wool hall back in 1399

The museum (claimed to be the 1st in the world) does not go str into frites but gives visitors a history lesson on potatoes and how the Andean potatoes underwent 10000 yrs of domestication and cross breeding into the potatoes we so love now

A book with detailed illustration bout the potato plant. Hard copy "Wikipedia"!!

Oh, talking bout potatoes reminded Marpig of this wonderful song from the 1937 Shall We Dance!! Must watch and listen!!

There are also displays of farny shaped potatoes and 1 of them was the "Yuraq Llumchuy waqachi" (*mouthful*) Apparently, it was so oddly shaped which makes peeling v diff, tt pple used to test the dexterity of young women. Only those who did well were allowed to marry!! Poor ths!!

But then, came the industrial revolution and wala!! We have a MIRACLE!!

5kg of fries in 1 min!!

Anyw, u may be asking why the deep-fried yellow thingies are called "French fries". Wel, according to museum info, 话说 in WW1, sm french-speaking Belgians offered them to American soldiers. As the Americans thought the Belgians were French, they the rest is history... quite simple naming there!!

And if u are thinking of another ? on why itz fries and chips, wel, itz quite obvious, no?

A wee bit (Scottish way of saying little bit, Dingko Nut would noe!!) more bout the (dark) history of potatoes...

In Europe, Ireland was where the potatoes industry grew the fastest. If one was to say "potatoes and the Irish" to the older generation ang moh (or any1 who happened to have studied the subject), wil have loads tel. Key event is the Great Famine aka Irish Potato Famine, which is a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. Marpig tried reading, but history gets too heavy and led to chains of events which impacted upon the Irish for centuries... Argh, history is always so 乱!!

Above is a 1900s street stove used in the UK to prepare fish & chips. Ahhh, we just so love street food!! :D)

B4 Marpig & frens pop over next door (yes, itz tt close!!) to the Choc Museum aka Choco-Story, herez the requirements for making delicious fries (so says the museum):

1) Potatoes must be firm
2) Potatoes must be sufficiently large
3) Potatoes must be smooth and rounded
4) Potatoes belonging to the following varieties: Agria, Anosta, Asterix, Axilia, Bintje, Charlotte, Charisma, Claudia, Corine, Desiree, Disco, Dore, Felsina, Junior, Premiere, Rosa, Sante, Saturna, Spunta, Turbo, Viola, Van Gogh

Right O, the Choco-Story is also ownd by tt guy who opened the Frites Museum as wel as Lumina Domestica (to showcase his collection of 6500 lamps)

Saw the same teacup in St. Michael and All Angels in Bampton, Devon!!

Yes, Marpig am kinda free (not really, just passionate bout graphs, duh!!) to transfer info into Excel graph below which summarise the diff %tage of ingredients in dark, milk and white chocs!!

Therez also a section in the museum bout the many myths of chocs:

Q) Does choc increase cholesterol levels?
A) No. (Marpig adds, but not too sure if other ingredients added does...)

Q) Does choc makes you fat?
A) Obviously!! (Wel, museum wasnt so str 4wrd but Marpig smtimes dont mince her words) Maybe not so for dark choc

Q) Does choc produces hepatic intolerance effect?
A) No (Omitted the "offals")

Q) Does choc causes acne?
A) No (Omitted the "offals")

Q) Does choc causes teeth cavities?
A) Cavities need the presence of bacteria and sugar to form. Also depends on the quality of enamel and length of sugar on teeth (reaction time) Cocoa contains anti-cavity properties: tanins which inhibit development of microbes, fluoride which reinforces enamel, phosphates which dampens acids formed by metabolisation of sugars. So strictly speaking, cocoa do not cause cavities, but choc indirectly may cause cavities (depends on consumer lah!! Duh)

Q) (Finally, important question!!) Is choc an aphrodisiac?
A) Long history; Moctezuma drank 50 cups/day especially b4 going to visit his wives. Casanova used choc and champagne to seduce women. Madame du Barry gave her lovers lotsa choc to improve their performance. In modern times, we noe tt cafeine, theobromine, serotonine, phenylethylamine, which are contained in choc, have the properties to act as tonic and reduce stress. This in turn, gives better resistance to fatigue and perhaps, have a positive effect on sexual performance(?)

Wel, speaking from Marpigz own xperience in sec sch, she ate an entire box of choc frens gave and instead of feeling xxxcited, she came down with fever the next dae. Ho hum

Al in al, the museums arent really worth paying to go in, if one doesnt have much time in Bruges but. Been there, done tt. Not v xxxciting... xcept for these!!!!!!! :D